[CORRECTED] Gratitude: July 4, 2025--249 years of independence and freedom

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We Americans are blessed to have lived in freedom, in a country which celebrated its 249th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence today.

Extraordinary men drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the 1787 Constitution and the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution) in 1791.

Imbued with the sprit of the Enlightenment, we both inspired and were inspired by the example of France. The 1789 Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen in France drew heavily on the U.S.Declaration of Independence in 1776 and previous declarations including the 1976 Virginia Declaration of Rights.

What a history! What extraordinary men and women!

We should never forget that we are their heirs, and the heirs of a proud tradition which includes the victory of the ideals of the Enlightenment in the Civil War, the victory over Germany and its allies in World War I, and the defeat of fascism in Germany and Italy in World War II. Americans also defeated the fascist militarism of Japan in World War II.

At that time the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler poised an existential threat to civilization.

249 years after the Declaration of Independence, where are we?

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and its systematic violation of international humanitarian law pose an existential threat to civilization.

Do the values and traditions that led to these American triumphs in the past still animate the hearts and minds of Americans today?

At first glance, it would appear not.

We have a malevolent president in the White House who takes pleasure in causing others to suffer, who implements policies that will cause the deaths of thousands of Americans, and millions of people abroad.

Judging from his actions, he supports Vladimir Putin in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

He supports the merciless Israeli war against Gaza which has resulted in the deaths of some 55,000 Palestinians to date.

He has supported Israel’s war of aggression against Iran in June,2925 and launched American attacks on Iran in June, both in flagrant violation of the bedrock principle prohibiting the threat or use of force contained in Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter.

How did Donald Trump and his Republican majorities in the House and the Senate get elected?

There are two factors that seem to be immediate causes.

First, the Republicans have mastered the art of mass propaganda, which leads to many millions of people believing things which are not true.

Second, the American people have become ignorant and largely uneducated politically and unable to rationally analyze political arguments. They are astoundingly ignorant of history.

Technology and social media have also played an important role, in shrinking attention spans and eliminating from consciousness all but the present moment, the immediate news or development. The capacity to remember and place events in some kind of logical order has, among great portions of the population, nearly disappeared.

Into this vacuum of knowledge of history, this inability to analyze events and place them in some kind of logical order, has stepped Donald J. Trump, a master performer in the age of entertainment, with a brilliant ability to develop a cult following, on the one hand, and to amass power by instilling fear in potential opponents, on the other. It is fear of retribution, and of the violence or potential violence of his supporters against those who oppose him, whether they be senators voting on removing him from office, or judges deciding how to vote in a case where he supports one side.

In addition, Trump counts among his supporters business leaders and others who care only about lower taxes, or making more money in a deregulated economy. Regardless of the consequences, for others or for the republic.

Are these challenges as great as those which faced America in World War II when the country was fighting wars in Europe and in Asia against both Germany and Japan?

We have a storied tradition to uphold, 249 years of freedom and independence.

The challenges Americans face at the moment are immense, including a fascist president and a fascist party who control the executive branch and both houses of Congress.

Will Americans rise to the occasion and overcome these challenges?

The odds are long.

But it is still too early to say.

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James Rowles is a former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and professor of international law at other universities.

He studied the history of Nazi Germany at Stanford, and has studied and worked on human rights, judicial reform, and access to justice projects in many countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and in Afghanistan and Russia. At Harvard Law School, he taught a course on “Law, Human Rights, and the Struggle for Democracy in Latin America”.

At the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the OAS, he worked on human rights cases involving forced disappearances, executions, and torture in anumber of authoritarian countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Recent Books by the Author

James P. Rowles, The Rape of American Democracy: Republican Actions and Democratic Failures, 2016-2021 (2024). Available on Amazon, and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.

James P. Rowles, Don’t Be Stupid. Pay Attention, Damn It! Advice for Undecided Voters and Voters Leaning Toward Trump (2024). Available on Amazon,and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.

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